Security forces line up Sudanese migrants detained at a police station after they were rescued from a boat that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, Rosetta, Egypt, Sept. 21, 2016 (AP photo by Eman Helal).

The Abuse of Migrants and Refugees Rears Its Ugly Head in Egypt

The remains of at least 14 adults and children, mainly skulls and bones, were discovered last month on a desert road in Egypt’s Nile Valley. Days later, a similar discovery was made nearly 200 miles away, according to a report in Al-Monitor. Along with a series of high-profile arrests, the grisly discoveries in Egypt again raised the specter of illicit organ trafficking in a country that has become a launching point for the migration of vulnerable people from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and beyond.

Egypt has long been a destination for its troubled southern neighbors, such as Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose people have fled war, famine, poverty and political turmoil. It has also been a hub for the organ trade, the result in part of the combination of “destitute Egyptians” and vulnerable migrants and refugees from other parts of Africa. ...